


New Year's Eve

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Bunker Sex, F/M, Fluff, Humor, New Year's Eve, Parallels to 5x20, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Set in the original future, SmoaknHawke - Freeform, Very Tame Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:40:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22378849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: William pulls a 5x20 on Connor and Mia, locking them inside the bunker on New Year's Eve with Indian food and wine. Of course, things escalate.
Relationships: Connor Hawke/Mia Smoak, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak (mentioned)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 97





	New Year's Eve

Ever since running away to Star City, Mia hadn’t really enjoyed New Year’s Eve. After eighteen years of spending them with her mother, wrapped up in fluffy blankets with brandy infused hot cocoa as they watched _Love Actually_ and old videos projected on the wall of her parents spending New Year’s in Singapore during their summer world trip, Mia didn’t enjoy having to spend the night holed up in her apartment alone, recovering from terrible cage fights (that she won) and avoiding drunk, drugged-up men who wanted to drag her off and do god knows what to her.

Tonight was the first New Year’s Eve in Star City she knew she wouldn’t have to spend by herself in misery, as she had the team to keep her company. Or at least, she’d thought she would - it turned out that Zoe was planning on spending New Year’s with her father and William had a Harris Consolidated holiday party to attend in Central City. Connor, Mia imagined, would be hanging out with his parents. She was a little bit disappointed the four of them wouldn’t be together; over the past year, she’d come to rely on William, Connor and Zoe to keep her grounded and sane. Having a big brother was fantastic, although she loathed to admit it, and Zoe was like her big sister in some ways and a great friend in others. Connor was… well, Mia didn’t exactly know what she and Connor were anymore, but they were _close_.

The Green Arrow wasn’t needed to run patrols around the city, as some of the Canary network girls had volunteered to beat the streets already. Rene had tipped the team off that there was going to be an increased police presence - not because of increased crime rate that always accompanied New Year’s, but because they suspected the Green Arrow and her team might be easier to capture as they attempted to keep things under control. So as Mia wasn’t going to be running patrols all night - which felt very strange - she was just planning on staying in the bunker. It would allow her to get some training done and oil her bow - to actually celebrate New Year’s, Mia reckoned she would throw back some whiskey and toast 2040’s roll over into 2041.

Arriving at the bunker in sweats, ready to hunker down and spend a solid couple of hours shooting tennis balls as her father taught her to keep her senses sharp, Mia was surprised to see William seated in their mother’s old chair on the monitor platform. He was chewing on a candy cane as he absentmindedly typed code.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, confused. “I thought your flight to Central City left two hours ago.” 

“It was delayed from five pm to seven,” William told her, twirling his chair around to face her with a grin. “It’s fine, though - it’s only an hour’s flight and the party starts at ten.”

Mia checked the time. It was nearly six. “Don’t you need to be at the airport?”

“Benefits of being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company with private security… only takes me ten minutes to get through security. I’m just taking hand luggage and I get a personal escort on one of those fancy airport golf carts to the gate.” William cast a glance back to the algorithm he was working on. “Just thought I’d update one of the automatic search protocols before I left.” He flashed Mia a brilliant smile. “And check in on my wonderful little sister, of course. How are things going?”

“Fine,” she answered suspiciously. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

“I don’t know. Just showing a little bit of brotherly concern and attentiveness.”

Okay, William was acting weird. “Why are you acting so strange?”

“Me, strange? No,” he waved his hand. “How’s Green Arrow-ing? You settling in okay? Adapting to the new work-life schedule being a vigilante slash superhero culminates in?”

“Are you high?” He really was behaving rather erratically. Mia would say that he seemed nervous but what was there to be nervous about? His flight? William had never shown anxiety about flying before.

He startled, looking actually offended. “No. Drugs are bad. Am I not allowed to show interest in my sister’s life?”

“Not when you’re seriously freaking me out like this. Just ask me what you want to ask me and stop being all -” Mia gestured at him. “ - _This_.”

“You just gestured to all of me.”

“Spit it out, William.”

“How are things going between you and Connor?”

For a moment, Mia didn’t say anything. She looked at him incredulously. “No.”

“No?”

“We’re not doing this. You’re not interrogating me about my love life.”

William released a thrilled noise, brightening. “So there’s a love life to be had?”

Mistake. _Mistake_. That was a big, big mistake. She should not have admitted to ever having a love life in the first place because now her brother was going to badger her about it for the rest of their lives.

“Oh my god, Will, I said _no_.”

“Really? Not even a ‘first meeting’ story? I still don’t know how the two of you started working together. You won’t tell me. Connor _blushes_ whenever I ask about it.” His eyes widened and he pointed at Mia accusingly. “Oh my god. You’re blushing now! I need an explanation!”

“Will, stop it. I’m not talking about this with you.”

“Oh, so there’s a ‘this’!” he crowded delightfully.

Mia had to find a way out of his conversation, fast. She was not talking about her and Connor with her big brother. She didn’t even know if there was a ‘her and Connor’ anymore. And she certainly didn’t know how to explain their frankly complicated past to William. Frowning, Mia managed to scan the lines of code on the screen behind him for about two seconds before her brother hastily opened up a new window to hide it. “That didn’t look like a search protocol, _that_ looked like you were messing around with Mom’s bunker security system.”

“Oh, I’m always playing around with Mom’s code in dribs and drabs,” he replied dismissively. “I may be the prince of the technology world but Mom is the cyber Queen. Shifting the topic of conversation won’t get you out of it, by the way.”

“I can’t believe you just made that pun.” Mia strode past her brother to throw her overnight gym bag on the counter, rifling around it in for her water bottle. “And don’t think I can’t tell that you’re lying. You’re awful at it - almost as bad as Mom. But I can’t be bothered to start up a sibling squabble with you tonight and I want to get some training done.” She raised an eyebrow. “Topic of conversation successfully shifted - and we won’t be returning to it.”

“Aw, but you _love_ our sibling squabbles,” William teased her, wheeling himself over. “Is that seriously how you’re going to spend your New Year’s Eve? Working out?” A look of disdain flashed over his face as he lifted out two bottles of premium whisky Mia had snuck out from the bunker’s hidden wine cabinet on the next level down. She resisted the urge to slap his hands away, knowing that William’s poor reaction time would result in both bottles being dropped and shattering. “Working out and drinking. Wow. You sure know how to throw a depressing party.” William smirked at her as he added, “Well, at least you won’t be alone. If you were, your plans would be _super_ lame.”

Mia froze and her head snapped up as she eyed her brother in suspicion. As far as she was aware, she would be by herself in the bunker all night. “What do you mean?”

Her answer came in the form of the bunker elevator doors dinging and sliding open. Connor, dressed in casual jeans and a crew shirt, stepped out, carrying a small cardboard box that was filled with white plastic bags. Food? Mia hadn’t eaten since that morning. Her stomach growled, to her embarrassment. The distinct smell of rich curry, turmeric and smoky cumin filled her nose.

“William, next time you want Indian take-out… pick up your own food,” Connor sighed, dropping the box onto a chair. “Just because I don’t have plans anymore for tonight doesn’t mean I wanna act as your personal Uber Eats service.” Spotting Mia, a huge grin spread across his face. Mia found herself mirroring it, but shyly. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she responded. “No plans anymore? What happened - your parents cancel on you?”

Connor shrugged. “Not a big deal. Some last minute Knightwatch mission. I don’t really mind. Christmas without JJ at home was tense and weird, and I think another family celebration for the New Year might have broke the camel’s back.” His eyes flickered over to her gym bag. “All packed for your Central City trip with Will?”

Mia blinked in confusion. “I’m not going with him.”

Now Connor was bewildered too. “You’re not?”

“No. It’s an employee holiday party, I don’t work for him so I’m not invited. I was going to spend New Year’s down here by myself.”

“But I was going to spend New Year’s here by _my_ self,” Connor replied.

Both of them stared at each other, thoroughly bemused by how things could have become so mixed up between them. William, who had been watching their back-and-forth in delight like it was an amusing tennis set, jumped out of his chair with a spring in his step, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“Oh no, look at the time,” William said, in such a falsely dramatic voice that Mia had to roll her eyes. It was a good thing her brother wasn’t an actor. He would be awful at it. “I should be getting to the airport! Wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to - to enjoy an airport watered-down Starbucks coffee and - get glared at for wanting to pet a patrolling sniffer dog.”

“But your food -” Connor started, puzzled.

“Oh, right, the food! Yeah - well - it seems like both you and Mia are going to be hanging down here tonight, so why don’t the two of you enjoy it? If you, um, want some more sophisticated alcohol rather than spirits, there’s a spectacular bottle of Chardonnay chilling in the fridge at the moment. A great Merlot and a cheese board set out as well.”

Mia stared at her brother in horrified realisation. _Oh no_. Was this seriously happening to her? Was her brother, who was desperate to know about her and Connor’s relationship status, trying and succeeding in setting the two of them up for a romantic evening alone on New Year’s Eve together? _And why didn’t she feel angry about it!?_

William had escaped by the time Mia found her voice again and so she was forced to stand there awkwardly in front of Connor, who was avoiding meeting her eyes, obviously feeling a little uncomfortable as well. The two of them hadn’t been in a room together alone for a while. And those last couple of times, they’d argued. Mia missed the old days of during her first two years in Star City, when the two of them used physicality rather than words to communicate. Her mother always said that she got that from her father - preferring to use actions rather than talk to somebody about her emotions. Connor was the opposite, really, which her mom had told her was like his father; Connor was someone who urged Mia to speak her thoughts and express her feelings, whether they be good or bad, rather than bottle them up and lash out.

But she didn’t know what to say here. Mia didn’t want to force a conversation. The best thing about her and Connor - what had been ‘her and Connor’ - was that the two of them were always natural around each other. She’d thought that they were honest as well, until she found out he’d been lying about who he was and why he was helping her last year. That still stung. It was the main source of tension between them, even now. She still hadn’t quite forgiven him for that. And she hated that Connor so easily appeared to read that from her bodily language whenever they hung out together.

Mia was glad, however, in this instance, that Connor seemed to pick up on her reluctance to partake in small talk. “I’ll go grab some plates and wine glasses,” he offered. “Red or white?”

“White,” Mia replied quietly. “We can save the Merlot for later.”

The two of them ended up eating the Indian and nursing glasses of white wine on the training mats as the old conference table’s glass was cracked and they didn’t want to incur William’s wrath if they accidentally spilt anything onto his keyboards or computer set-up. It wasn’t all too uncomfortable. Mia found herself loosening up after her second glass of Chardonnay and with Connor relaxing with the help of the alcohol as well, the two of them soon began chatting and amusing each other. It reminded her of the times she used to invite Connor into her apartment after he’d walked her home from difficult cage fights and they’d enjoyed whiskey together, getting lost in each other’s laughter and then each other’s bodies, if they’d drunk enough. Memories of those particular nights caused Mia to flush and duck her head so her blonde waves fell down from her shoulders to shield her face.

“God, that Indian was good,” Connor sighed happily once they’d cleared their plates, lying down on the training mats on his back and stapling his hands on top of his chest. Mia raised an eyebrow but smiled, debating on whether or not to join him. But if she was supine, she wouldn’t be able to watch Connor’s shifting expressions. “Your brother wasn’t kidding when he said it’s the best in the city.”

“It was the only restaurant in the city our father used to allow him and Felicity to order take-out from,” Mia said, wistful. “It’s a miracle it’s still open, really, considering the state of Star now.”

“You never got to see the city back before Crisis hit,” Connor mused. “You would have been too young.”

“I was barely four months old when Crisis happened. And I was born in Bloomfield, raised there for the rest of my childhood - I’d never seen Star City before I ran away from home to live here.”

“Should have stayed in Bloomfield,” Connor snorted. “Beautiful neighbourhood, safe streets, low to non-existent crime rate… Star City must have seemed like an apocalyptic hellscape when you first arrived.”

“I’m glad I didn’t stay in Bloomfield.”

“How come?”

Mia smiled. “Because then I wouldn’t have met you.” Connor’s eyes shone at her answer. The blonde was hasty to add, though, as she blushed, “Or my brother. Or Zoe. And if I hadn’t come to Star City then I wouldn’t have reconciled with my mom, or become the Green Arrow.” She paused and then continued in a rush, because oh _god_ Connor was looking at her like she’d hung the moon and the stars and she wasn’t _good_ at this love stuff, “And that’s who I am now, and what my purpose is, because I’m carrying on my father’s legacy with your help and the others -”

“You ramble just like Felicity,” Connor cut in with a gleeful laugh. “Dad warned me about your mom having a tendency to babble but I didn’t think that you would!”

They decided to spar after that. They changed into work-out clothes, Connor in shorts and a t-shirt and Mia in a sports bra, vest and leggings. The fact that the two of them were tipsy made their hand-to-hand session interesting, as Connor was stumbling a little and Mia, who would usually concentrate on the fight, found her attention slipping, entertained by her boyfri- teammates’s attempts to block her strikes. An hour later, the pair were slightly bruised, the alcohol had _definitely_ gone to their heads and their sparring had transformed more into uncoordinated play-wrestling than anything else.

Spotting an opening, Mia took advantage of it and hooked her leg around the back of Connor’s knee - and using her entire weight against him, dragged him down onto the mats. Connor obviously wasn’t expecting this as he was instantly winded, lying flat on his back dazedly. Mia, though, had completely underestimated how this would turn out because she was now straddling Connor’s waist, sitting atop him and pinning his hands either side of his shoulders. She swallowed as his gazed trailed up and down her body slowly and then finally up to her face - his eyes were dark and heated. Oh god. This was exactly the sort of position they’d started off their more passionate nights in.

Mia vaulted off Connor, tingling all over and her pulse thudding, at the same time Connor pushed her off him gently, clearing his throat. He stood swiftly and brushed himself down, picking up a towel from the counter and throwing it over his shoulders to hide a large sweat stain on his t-shirt.

“I’d better head off then,” he said, his voice husky. “I’m sure you’ve had enough of my company for the night.”

“You’re not going to stay until midnight?” Mia winced at the hint of desperation and disappointment lacing her tone. “Until the new year comes in?”

The smile Connor gave her was weak. “Ah, no, I… don’t think that would be best.”

He left, quickly heading for the bunker’s back entrance. Well. He _tried_ to leave. The boulder that her heart had turned into was just settling into the pit of Mia’s stomach when Connor returned, a note and a box wrapped in gold Christmas paper in his hands. He looked sheepish and there was color tinging his cheeks. Mia’s brow furrowed, confused. Why would he go only to come back barely a minute later?

“Your brother has locked us in here,” Connor told her. “His note says that it’s to ‘ensure our safety’ but I mean… the Indian food, the wine, whatever the hell this is…” He shook the gift. It rattled. “Mia, did William lure me here by asking me to deliver Indian, run out on us, and then put the bunker in lockdown, to force us to spend New Year’s Eve together on some sort of date?”

Mia sighed. “Yes, I think he did.” So that’s what William was doing messing with their mom’s bunker security protocols before he departed.

“... Your brother is sneaky.”

“He’s got Queen blood in him, what did you expect?” She hesitantly approached Connor but stopped so there were two feet of distance between them before she prodded at the gold-wrapped box. “Are we going to open that? I’m sure it’s not anything nefarious. My brother may be an evil genius but if he really locked us in here to try and get us to hook up, I doubt he’d try to hurt us. It’s probably chocolates or edible roses or something stupidly romantic like that.”

Connor shrugged and began tearing at the wrapping paper. He went still as soon as he could see through the small gap he created, astonishment and disbelief on his face. Those swiftly shuttered into mortification. Mia couldn’t see what the hell he was reacting to so tried to grab the box, but Connor shook his head and stepped back.

“You said William is trying to get us to hook up,” he said, staring at her. “Did you mean that literally?”

Well no, she obviously meant it as a joke. “Why?”

He finally held out the gift to her.

‘Gift’.

It was a candle. A mood candle. Red in colour, and it had a ghastly strong scent of roses.

Mia nearly choked on air as soon as she had it in her hands and was able to examine it. The label on it said _Love It Up._

“Because I think _he_ means it literally,” Connor whispered.

She was actually speechless. What the hell was she meant to say to that? Her brother had locked her down here with Connor with take-out and alcohol and given them _a romantic candle_ as a New Year’s Eve present. She truly wasn’t sure how to feel. Angry? Horrified? Upset? Utterly humiliated? She decided she was experiencing a mixture of all of them; the blood in her veins had turned to ice, probably a symptom of shock. Turning the box over, Mia’s eyes widened when she found a small note taped to the bottom.

_Light it and enjoy the romantic atmosphere please. God knows you both need some stress relief - W_

He’d drawn two emojis by hand underneath. The winking emoji and the smirking emoji.

“I swear to god, I’m going to kill him,” she growled.

Connor snagged the paper edge of the note and stripped it from the box. He turned it over. “There’s something else on the back. ‘You won’t be able to get out of the bunker until I’m back. I shut the CCTV system off before I left. There’s more food and drinks in the fridge if you need.’” He peered up at Mia. “Well that’s reassuring.”

“ _That’s_ what you find reassuring!?” Mia ran her hands over her face, groaning in exhaustion. “God, why did I ever think that having a big brother was a good thing?”

“Usually big brothers don’t encourage you to have a boyfriend, they actively attempt to stop you,” Connor said dryly.

“This whole situation is a nightmare and I am definitely strangling William to death in his sleep to celebrate the coming of 2041.” Mia shook her head, still utterly mortified. “I am _so sorry_ about this. William is completely out of line.”

“There’s more to the note,” Connor mumbled.

“Oh god.”

“Um, William says he’s sick and tired of walking in on us having ‘almost sex’ on the training mats and eye sex whenever we’re around each other because he finds heterosexual sexual tension stifling and - your brother likes to write essay notes, doesn’t he? - and he knows we were involved romantically before he came to Star City so he just wants us to sort it out because he’s not as patient as my dad was with your parents.” Connor glanced up at her, shocked. “I can’t believe your brother is seriously trying to set us up. Zoe, yes, I could see that - but your _big brother?_ ”

“I mean…” Mia bit her lip. “He’s not… wrong. We were involved before all the stuff with Galaxy and my mom happened. Things have been tense between us lately. We should sort it out.” She wrinkled her nose. “But ew, agreeing with my BROTHER on that? Is weird.” Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Mia headed over to grab and tag a swig from a bottle of whiskey. The burn from it licked down her throat and warmed her from the inside. She needed to get buzzed if she was going to survive this.

“Give me that,” Connor requested. Taking the bottle from her, he threw it back and took a couple of gulps as well. “Come on, let’s spar again. You ‘sort out’ your emotions by hitting things and having somebody hit back will help you work out your frustrations.”

“Get the Merlot,” Mia muttered. “We’re going to need it.”

“I’m lighting the candle as well.”

“No. Please. Spare my olfactory receptors. That rose scent is terrible.”

“I kinda like it, actually.”

“Oh, of _course_ you do.”

Their night trapped together continued. They drank and sparred and devoured the cheese board and drank some more, until the two of them could barely stand upright and they were drenched in sweat. Even then, both of them quite giggly at this point as all the alcohol had gone to their heads, they attempted to start escrima stick training, sloppily blocking and striking and teasingly tapping each other on their sides and shoulders. Mia had to admit that this was the most relaxed she’d felt in months. Part of that was because of all the drinking, yes, but a majority of the reason for her good mood was Connor. He was honestly a pretty great guy she enjoyed spending time with.

By the time midnight rolled around, the two of them were lying on their backs on the training mats side by side, arms pressed up against each other. Mia was dizzily drunk but didn’t feel sick thankfully, and Connor was humming some stupid jingle under his breath, and while she usually found that annoying, it was kind of adorable now.

“I like you,” Connor said, out of the blue. For somebody who’d drank as much as he had, his voice wasn’t as slurred as Mia expected it to be. “You know that, right? Like, I _like_ like you.”

“You’ve said like so many times now it doesn’t sound like a real word,” Mia snorted in amusement.

“You’re meant to say you like me back,” he whined.

“Urgh, fine.” Mia struggled to roll over onto her side so she could rest her chin on top of his shoulder. Her cheeks felt heated as she mumbled into his skin, “I like you too.”

“You can’t just say it,” Connor replied. Mia could hear the pout in his voice. “You have to _mean_ it.” He startled when his phone chimed. Sitting up slowly, he checked it and muttered, “Huh, a minute to midnight.”

“Really?” Mia was surprised. Time had passed quicker than she’d thought. She heaved herself up into a cross-legged position next to him. “Well, we finished the wine, so we can’t exactly toast into the new year.”

“I think you’ve had enough to drink,” Connor chuckled, tapping her nose fondly. “Your pupils are dilated.”

“That’s not because I’m drunk.”

“No?”

“Nope. When we as humans have a physiological response, such as fear, surprise, or…” Mia’s eyes drifted down to Connor’s lips. “...attraction and love, that can make our pupils dilate.”

Connor’s pupils were _huge_. Staring into them, Mia felt like she was getting lost in a sea of darkness, like she was entering space. It was exhilarating. “And which one of those things are you experiencing right now?”

“Guess,” Mia breathed. She rolled over onto her knees and, the second the clock struck midnight and the year turned over, pressed her lips to Connor’s gently.

Connor responded almost immediately, yielding to her lead and letting her take control as he kissed her back. It started off tentative and soft, as it always did, but within seconds grew more passionate, Mia more desperate and Connor even more receptive. Before it even registered in her mind what she was going, Mia was flinging her vest off and clambering into Connor’s lap, chasing his lips with her own. Connor groaned into her mouth. It was a noise Mia had heard before many times and she snickered into the kiss. She shuddered when Connor’s warm hands slid around her stomach to settle on her waist and yank her closer to him, until she was basically sitting right on top of the noticeable tent in his shorts.

Things escalated quickly from there. Clothes were shed in a frenzy and Mia laid back on the mats, eyes closed in ecstasy, as Connor mouthed from her collarbone down to her stomach, yanking her leggings off. Her clumsy hands tugged at his shorts until they came loose enough for Connor to hastily whip them off. Naked once more, the two of them didn’t care about taking a moment to appreciate each other’s bodies. They’d appreciated each other before, multiple times, and the pricking heat underneath Mia’s skin and the arch in her lower abdomen made it hard to concentrate on anything else but Connor on top of her, as she wrapped her legs around his hips and kissed him desperately, panting.

Experienced with how her body worked, it took Connor only a minute to prep her, and then he was grabbing a condom with shaky hands, and they had the green light to _Love It Up_. That stupid, stupid candle was lying abandoned at the edge of the mats, forgotten. They fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle, and Mia didn’t know why she was so surprised and awed by this. She already knew it. Maybe it was the fact that it was always so perfect and felt like their first time than caused her to feel like her entire body was thrumming with energy

They usually made love quite roughly and frantically, but tonight was different. Connor was attentive in ways that Mia didn’t even know he could be, and he easily brought her to the brink of pleasure with precise movement of his hands and hips, whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

It ended faster than it probably should have, but the two of them were wrecked from pleasure at the conclusion. Connor was cuddly and insisted on Mia remaining in his arms as the two of them dropped off to sleep, satisfied and exhausted, the alcohol finally catching up to them. Mia slipped off into a peaceful, dreamless slumber, feeling safe and content and protected and _loved._

The next morning, Mia groggily awoke with a splitting headache and blurred vision. She was curled up on the training mats alone, a blanket covering her naked body and a pillow beneath her head. For a brief second she panicked over where Connor could be. Had he somehow managed to beat William’s lockdown and taken off, leaving her by herself? Was he ashamed by what had happened last night? Sure, they’d both been drunk, but they’d both consented and wanted it - they’d _enjoyed_ it, and Mia certainly didn’t regret, so she couldn’t imagine why Connor would. She sighed in relief when he emerged from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry. He was just wearing boxers and one of his spare t-shirts, charcoal grey in colour.

“There’s water and Advil by your head,” Connor told her, his voice hoarse and gravelly. He made strong eye contact with her though, and the small smirk of his lips told Mia that he wasn’t upset by last night. In fact, he looked… happy. “I know you handle your drink better than me, but I thought you might need them. Oh, and, er… it’s nearly 11am and your brother’s flight landed twenty minutes ago. He’ll probably be here soon to let us out so you might want to shower and change while I… clean up.”

That sounded like a fantastic idea, because Mia did not want her brother walking in on her naked. She swallowed down a couple of Advil tablets with a swig of water and then carefully got to her feet, gathering the blanket around her. Her messy, tangled blonde hair fell down her shoulders and over her face as she smiled at Connor shyly, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious despite being very confident last night. Connor didn’t even try and hide the fact that he ran his eyes up and down her form, checking her out.

“Thanks,” Mia said quietly.

“You’re welcome,” he replied warily.

She padded over to where she was storing some spare clothes, as the ones she’d been wearing yesterday were pretty dirty. Connor watched her, shifting uncomfortably on the balls of his feet. As Mia headed over to the bathroom, piles of clothes in one arm and holding up her blanket with the other, she approached Connor. She hated how unsure he looked and because of that, Mia shoved down her own hesitation and allowed her assertiveness to blossom. Going up onto her tiptoes, she kissed him softly. Connor was shocked for a moment, freezing, but then melted into it.

“When I said I liked you last night,” she whispered. “I promise you, I did mean it. I just… I’m not ready for a relationship right now. Not yet.”

Connor’s smile was dazzling. “But you don’t regret last night?”

“Frak no,” she responded immediately. “Last night was incredible. I just… don’t know if I can do that every night, at least, not yet.”

“I’ll wait. For you to be ready,” Connor told her.

The look on his face was adoring. Mia didn’t know how to handle it - she blushed. Was that how her dad used to look at her mom? Her parents had been in love to the point where it was ridiculous, loving each other more than another human being should probably love another. They’d been soulmates. It was impossible for Mia not to believe in them when she had her mom and dad as pure examples. She’d never thought that she would ever be able to find her soulmate though. She didn’t know whether or not that was Connor, but at the moment, the fluttering in her heart, that was almost overwhelming in its intensity, was exactly what her mom had described feeling when she’d fallen in love with her dad.

Mia’s shower was refreshing. Her hair, when wet, always fell into loose ringlets, and since she couldn’t be bothered to dry it or even let it air-dry, she wrapped it into an easy bun after dressing in sweatpants and a hoodie. It was one of Connor’s old ones and smelt distinctly like his sandalwood aftershave and gun oil. When she emerged into the bunker, she grinned at the sight of Connor shaking up two strawberry protein milkshakes for them for breakfast. He threw her a cereal bar which she caught out of the air effortlessly; it was chocolate chip instead of peanut, which meant that Connor had remembered her nut allergy.

“Happy New Year, by the way,” Connor smirked. “Sorry I forgot to say last night.”

“We were busy,” Mia laughed. “Happy New Year.”

The elevator pinged. Mia and Connor turned just in time to see the doors slide open, revealing William inside - and he was covering his eyes with his hand, wielding an aerosol room spray. “Do you two have clothes on?” he calls, stumbling out and peeking through his fingers. “Please say yes.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “William. Stop being so dramatic. And don’t think you’re getting away with locking Connor and I in here all night, I’m totally getting you back for that.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you will, but you’re not subtle at all when you’re planning revenge and I’ll be keeping my eyes open, so we’ll see how that goes.” When he dropped his hand, and his eyes flitted between the two of them suspiciously, William pointed accusingly when he saw how close the two of them were standing. “You two _better_ not have done anything on my keyboards! Or anywhere near my computers!”

“Who says we did anything?” Connor raised an eyebrow.

William wrinkled his nose. “You both have those dopey expressions on your faces that Mom and Dad used to get after defiling the couch,” he whined. “Speaking of which, if you _did_ do anything on that thing, you better clean and disinfect it!” He must have caught Mia’s eyes wandering back over to the training mats, which she and Connor had definitely desecrated last night, because he gagged and protested, “No, not the training mats! C’mon guys, Zoe has to work out on those! God, you’re just as horny as Mom and Dad used to be, they used to go at it on the training mats as well, I heard Curtis and John complaining about it all the time. Wait, is that - _is that the candle?_ ”

The _Love It Up_ candle had been tipped over last night on the edge of the training mats while Connor and Mia were engaging in their… vigorous activities, and because the wax had still been liquid at the time, it was now hardened on the edge of the glass and partly on the concrete floor as well, the wick soaked.

“You ruined the candle I gave you!” William sounded absolutely scandalised. “I can’t believe this! The - the _disrespect_ , the sheer _nerve_ of the two of you -!”

“Happy New Year, William,” Connor interrupted firmly.

“Happy New Year, but -”

“Happy New Year,” Mia echoed. “Connor and I were planning on going out for lunch, and you can join us as long as you make no more comments about our love lives.”

“We were?” Connor asked confusedly. Mia shot a glare at him. “Oh yeah, we were.”

William grumbled but agreed, muttering under his breath that he needed to check his algorithms and text Zoe that he was back before they left. As he shoved past them to get up the stairs to the monitor platform, Mia and Connor exchanged a look between them; Mia quirked an eyebrow and bit her lip in amusement while Connor winked at her.

“Go and rescue the candle,” she murmured to him out of the corner of her mouth.

“Why? I thought you hated it?” he snickered.

“Oh, be quiet.” Mia whacked him lightly across the chest. “I do hate it and it’s a stupid candle, but that’s our love fern or red pen now so we can’t throw it away.”

Connor stared at her, bewildered. “Love fern or red pen -?”

She kissed him. Just to shut him up. Connor kissed her back.

“You two are incorrigible,” William said.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> twitter: @lexiblackbriar  
> tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13


End file.
